Simple Wishes
by xRyougax
Summary: I have a basic idea of where this fic's going to head, but I'm not sure how to summarize it. I might make a better summary once I get a better idea, and a better title as well. Pairings- Everyone's still as obsessed with certain people. But I eventually s


Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2, but for Kami's sake I wish I did.  
  
This is really my first Ranma fic, so bear with me. Reviews are really appreciated; don't go easy on me, criticism often paves the path to improvement, ne? If I bring in any characters of my own vivid imagination (and perhaps my friend's) there shouldn't be too many, so hopefully it won't screw up the plot too much. But talk is cheap while the story is good, they always say. So.. On with the fic!  
  
Italics= Thoughts.  
  
~  
  
"P-Chan! Oh, P-Chan!"  
  
Wearing a worried frown, Akane Tendo walked down the street near her own home. It'd been over  
  
a week since she'd seen her precious pet, and it was really beginning to worry her to no end. Sure, P-Chan  
  
disappeared a lot, but Ranma's teasings had earned himself a good malleting, and had caused Akane to  
  
begin thinking. It was a big wide world out there, and she actually allowed her little baby to wander on his  
  
own? It was almost unthinkable!  
  
"P-Chan, can you hear me? Where are you??"  
  
"Oh, just give it up. I'm sure the little creep's fine."  
  
The ever-sarcastic Ranma Saotome, as he usually did, was once again following alongside Akane.  
  
Well, 'alongside' referring to the fact that he was walking along a wall above, with the greatest of ease. This  
  
was probably one of his favorite hobbies; both to tease Akane, and train himself in balance. After all, he  
  
could easily outrun Akane atop the fence, which he also tended to do a lot of.  
  
"How can you be so inconsiderate? My little P-Chan's out there all alone, and you don't even  
  
care!"  
  
Needless to say, Ranma's lack of concern for P-Chan pressed certain buttons on Akane's constant  
  
anger system. What exactly did Ranma have against P-Chan, whom had a perfect record in Akane's eyes?  
  
Why, P-Chan was the cutest, sweetest, most innocent little thing in the world! Well, Ranma's always a jerk.  
  
This Akane assured herself of. It had to be the explanation, had it not? Ranma'd probably use any chance he  
  
got to be a creep, himself.  
  
Poor, oblivious Akane.  
  
Rather annoyed with the fact that he had promised Ryoga somewhere along the line that he  
  
wouldn't purposely let slip information about the Lost Boy's unfortunate.. 'physical disability,' Ranma merely  
  
snorted. Stopping at the corner of the fence, he pivotted around on one foot in order to head back in the  
  
opposite direction.  
  
"Whatever you say. It's gettin' late, so I'm goin' home."  
  
Not even waiting for an answer, he'd trotted off along the fence at jogging pace, which made  
  
Akane hesitate. The idea of wandering around Nerima alone at night didn't sound very appealing, especially  
  
after the numerous horror films she'd seen. She was quite reluctant in doing so, but she assured herself that  
  
P-Chan was smart enough to keep out of trouble for one more night. Who knows, maybe he was already  
  
home, anyways? If not, she could just go searching again in the morning.  
  
"Ranma, wait!"  
  
As the sun began its slow descent down the horizon, Akane made a quick dash to follow Ranma,  
  
hoping she wasn't left too far behind.  
  
~  
  
Just as the sun still hadn't quite set, Ranma and Akane still hadn't quite finished arguing.  
  
Now, they could be found walking in the back of the Tendo Dojo, just yards away from the koi  
  
pond. Apparently, the subject of little P-Chan hadn't yet been dropped, as that was just what they were  
  
arguing about once again. None of the residence were paying much attention, as they were all quite used to  
  
the inevitable arguements and repair bills.  
  
Nabiki was boredly absorbed in the contents of a random comic book, while Kasumi was finishing  
  
up the remaining chores around the house. Soun and Genma (conveniently in Panda form) sat on the back  
  
porch, playing their never-ending game of Shogi. Luckily for everyone, Happosai was nowhere to be found  
  
in the surrounding area of the dojo, and neither were any of the endless list of fiances. Two of them were  
  
most likely busy with their own work, and Ranma was mainly glad for that. But no, the arguing he and  
  
Akane always dealt with seemed never-ending. One would think that they'd learn their lesson one day; the  
  
arguing obviously hurt both of them at times, despite their egotystical and headstrong ways.  
  
But this time, someone was definitely paying attention to the two quarreling. Very close attention.  
  
A rather frustrated boy remained crouched in a tree above the koi pond, watching Ranma and  
  
Akane while sending obvious glares to the pigtailed one. A heavy but quiet sigh was expelled as he reached  
  
up to set his backpack and umbrella on the branch beside him. Why did Ranma have to be such a jerk to  
  
Akane? The nerve of him! Despite his many losses at Ranma's hands, Ryoga refused to believe himself  
  
weaker. As a matter of fact, he was practically as strong as Ranma, but Ranma had speed and wits on his  
  
side. But that made no difference. At least not when Akane was involved.. No, he refused to let Akane be  
  
subjected to Ranma's cruel ways; he'd pay, eventually. At least if Ryoga had anything to say about it.  
  
Releasing his balance-maintaining grip on the tree, Ryoga clenched his fists and rose to his feet--  
  
his first big mistake. Without his grip on another branch, the one he was standing on just wouldn't take his  
  
weight. With a loud crack, he found himself hurtling downard... Right towards the pond.  
  
His first impulse was to scream; Akane was standing there, and he was on a one-way trip to a cold  
  
bath! Fortunately, he barely had time to do even that. Luck seemed to be on his side today, as Akane didn't  
  
even have time to turn around before the splash was heard. Perhaps even if Akane had chanced a glance,  
  
the dim light the sun was producing wouldn't have shown much, anyways.  
  
On first impulse, both Ranma and Akane stopped their arguement in order to turn towards the  
  
pond, blinking in confusion. Ranma was sure something large had fallen in; nothing small could have made  
  
such a splash. Akane would have made the same deduction, had she not heard a quick panicked squeal. She  
  
herself panicked as well, before she quickly ran over to the edge of the pond.  
  
"P-Chan??????"  
  
Another panicked bweeing sound was heard, as the small piglet struggled to remain surfaced  
  
enough to breathe. This was proving difficult, given P-Chan soon found himself battling to break free from a  
  
pile of soaked clothes that seemed to be weighting him down. Again, luck was on his side to some extent.  
  
The dim light wasn't very revealing, and therefore Akane didn't notice the familiar clothing. Even if she did  
  
notice, she would have made up her own sort of excuse for it. After all, her little P-Chan was her first priority,  
  
and he was in obvious trouble.  
  
Without even stopping to think, Akane had drawn a quick breath before climbing in to rescue her  
  
precious pet, completely forgetting her lack of swimming ability. P-Chan was the only thing on her mind, and  
  
she'd managed to quickly grab hold of him and untangle him from the mass of clothes. Watching this,  
  
Ranma slapped a hand to his forehead before rushing over, pausing at the edge.  
  
It's her problem. She should know better than to jump in there!  
  
His own thoughts caused him to pause. ..Exactly how deep was the pond? Sure, he'd been thrown  
  
in his own share of times, but he'd never stopped to think about the actual depth.. Well, neither have I, but  
  
it's my fic and I'm just gonna go with my own assumptions.  
  
"...Akane?"  
  
Why isn't she coming up?  
  
This time it was Ranma's turn to panic. How long had he known Akane? How long had she been  
  
able to swim? Worry began to engulf him as he began considering what to do. It seemed rather obvious; he  
  
should just jump in after them, but even if he did he'd probably end up getting yelled at for some random  
  
reason.. But was he just gonna sit there and let both Akane and Ryoga drown? Sure, he claimed not to like  
  
either of them, but... Well, Akane was... He didn't want to go there. And Ryoga was the closest thing he had  
  
to an actual friend since he'd met Ukyo..  
  
It was here that he cut his own thoughts off, finding them to take too long for their own good.  
  
Drawing a breath, he didn't hesitate another moment to dive in. The water was cold; that was obvious. Apon  
  
contact, he felt himself lose a bit of height and bulk, but this was 'normal.' He wasn't about to dwell on it.  
  
Given the pond's small size, it didn't take long for him to locate Akane's hand, quickly grabbing hold of it  
  
and pulling upwards.  
  
~  
  
Both Ranma and Akane sat, soaked at the edge of the koi pond, gasping and coughing. P-Chan sat  
  
in Akane's grip, gasping and coughing as well as he tried to recollect what had just happened. Then it hit  
  
him, and he went relatively quiet. Guilt and worry, rather than happiness washed over him as he realized  
  
what Akane had done. She actually risked her life for his sake..?  
  
Ranma, now in girl form, was about to open her mouth in order to insult Akane for her stupidity,  
  
but Akane didn't even give her time. Still soaked through, she held P-Chan close before standing up  
  
indignantly.  
  
"You didn't have to save me! I had it all under control!"  
  
"Under control?! Akane, you sank like a rock! Did you expect me to just sit there and-"  
  
"Ranma no baka!"  
  
Luckily for Ranma, Akane's hands were too full to give him a good malleting. She was angry, to say  
  
the least. Why did he always have to butt in? She was doing just fine saving P-Chan, and.. Expelling a light  
  
'hmph,' she wheeled around and headed towards the dojo.  
  
"Come on, wittle baby... Let's get you dry and warm.."  
  
"KawaiiKUNE!"  
  
This, obviously, was Ranma as she jumped to her feet, practically seething with anger. Why did  
  
Akane have to take things the wrong way all the time? All she was trying to do was save her! Sometimes  
  
she really frustrated Ranma.. Then again, the frustrated eachother a lot, didn't they?  
  
"Geeze, why does she gotta be so stubborn all the time..?"  
  
Expelling a sigh, the redheaded female stared upwards towards the tree where Ryoga had  
  
obviously fallen from, taking note of the backpack which was now hanging loosely from the remainder of  
  
the branch. Rising to her feet, she leaned down to gather the clothes out of the water, before climbing up to  
  
retreive the rest of the supplies.  
  
"Ryoga, you idiot..."  
  
~  
  
Okay, that's the end of the first chapter! I hope you're not too completely bored. I know, there's gonna be some boring parts, but I promise I'll get to some more interesting parts soon. Please review, and tune in for the next chapter! 


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